Military Mentors Lunch will host 100 area high school ROTC students

The Citadel African American Studies Program will host 100 Junior ROTC students from area high schools at its bi-annual Military Mentors Lunch.

Students from the Military Magnet Academy, Burke High School, Stall High School, Lincoln High School, and Baptist Hill High School will participate.

Abraham Turner

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Abraham Turner, executive director of the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, is the guest speaker.

Turner is a South Carolina native and graduate of South Carolina State University. Prior to becoming executive director of the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, he served as chief of staff of United States Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb. From 2004-05, he served as the commanding general at Fort Jackson, the largest initial-entry training center in the U.S. Army that is responsible for training 50 percent of all soldiers entering the Army each year. He retired from active duty in May 2011.

Turner's experience also includes serving as chief operations officer for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe in Virginia; assistant division commander for operations with the 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg in North Carolina; chief/head of the Army Liaison Element for the U.S. House of Representatives; and advisor/special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State in Washington.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20, in Buyer Auditorium in Mark Clark Hall. Other guests will include Diette Courrege, the Charleston County Schools reporter at the Post and Courier, retired military veterans from the Charleston area, and Citadel active-duty military personnel.

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